Went back through this chapter and fixed all the spelling and grammatical mistakes I could find. Sorry for the inconvenience, I used to write right before I went to sleep, so was pretty out of it.

A small girl walked along a grey sidewalk, leaves dusted over the surface crunching quietly under her torn, worn-down tennis shoes. She had her head bowed, but green eyes stayed focused on the people around her, blonde messy hair fluttering in front of her face with the wind's cool rush. It was the coldest of autumn days and though goosebumps were rising over her small frame, there was no coat to give her pale skin warmth.

The girl was so much smaller than the other kids, mostly because she didn't go to school and only saw the kids that were older than her at the park she waited in. She would keep waiting forever if she had to... "Hey look.."

"Iris again? What does she want here?"

"Where's her mother..? Ive seen the kid here till past midnight." The girl named 'Iris' pretended to not notice the stares, eyes tearing. She couldnt tell if it was because of the cold wind or the feeling of loneliness that carved a pit through her center. She felt so empty.. Her body almost naturally numbed the cold at this point. It never snowed in her area but it did get cold enough to freeze over, leaving her tears being the only source of warmth as the skies darkened and the chill worsened... but still, she wouldnt stop waiting. It was another freezing night, another lonely, heart shreading, saddening night. She felt like she could burst, even wishing sometimes that she would. She only looked up when she saw the blackness of a figure in the already near black skies. "Hello..?" she whispered, the bench she sat on seeming to be more uncomfortable as she remembered what her mother had said about strangers.. but this one was.. well, stranger than a stranger. His outfit was black completely except for a red ripped cape that fluttered in the wind's angry breath. He was paler than even her and his black hair was longer than she had been used to seeing on a man; a little past his shoulders in smooth, raven strands. He seemed a little surprised when she looked directly at him but that faded.. and the man stared back with blood red eyes. It was unnerving. "You.. can see me?" he asked, his voice so cold, so dead, it scared her a little. Despite that, he had a questioning tone to it, almost surprised himself. Her words wouldnt come out, frozen both with anxiety and the chill sticking her dry lips together, so she just nodded. He was quiet for a while before, of all things, he seated himself beside her. She had the instinct to move away, if a strange man sits next to you while you're in the darkness of a now empty park, you leave.. but he seemed sad.. just like her. Her head tilted slightly. "Whats wrong?" He glanced back with a small grunt towards the child, her eyes filled with curiosity and light, things he never understood.. but also with something else. Somethinf hidden that he had felt and known for so long he could detect it immidiatally. Sadness. Loneliness. Fear. "I should ask you the same question.." he muttered. Death didnt really understand why he had chosen to sit here next to some child. Usually if anything he stayed away from mortals, going to them only to bring them to their destined afterlife then go to back to his lost, lonely exsistance. He got to see both the beautiful heaven and the firey horrible hell.. and knew full well he would never reach either of them. He had ruined too much to go to heaven and he was too pure for hell.. there was no place for Death in either of the worlds. The small child brushed her hair a little out of her face, pale green eyes seeming to sparkle with the gloss of holding back tears. "Waiting for my momma.." she said quietly, looking down at her feet swinging; she wasnt tall enough yet to touch the ground. Death sensed the tinge of shakiness in her voice, glancing over as red eyes scanned her down. She wore no coat in the freezing weather, holes littered her shoes and dirt stains and rips scattered the surface of the the oversized button-down white top. She wore a blue skirt that was wrinkled, dirty, and tattered, and her hair had small bits of broken leaves and dirt in it. She looked homeless, lost. Alone. "How long have you been waiting?" he questioned. She was quiet for a longer period of time than the reaper expected. "Half a year.. she left on my birthday, told me to wait with Daddy." Half a year.. "And you've been waiting all this time?"

"Wouldnt you?" It was a surprising question from someone so small but her words were true. If someone he cared about left, he would wait forever to have them return. But he didnt care about anyone.. and no one cared back. "And where's your father?" This time, she didnt answer. Grey felt bad. If her mother left and never came back.. he faintly remembered carrying a woman with the same features as this child from a smashed car up to the heavens. That must be why she can see me, he thought. He had to consider, she couldnt keep waiting here in the cold alone forever. "Your mother.. she's in heaven... you shouldnt keep waiting, she wont come." The girl's bright eyes darted up, wide and confused. "H.. how would you know?"

"Because I brought her there.. I'm Death. The Grim Reaper." The girl didnt seem nearly as freightened or upset as he had expected. If anything, she appeared to be relieved. She had thought her mother had left her.. sure it saddened her to know that she aould never see her again, but she was happy if she was in heaven. "Is that your real name?" Grey was taken by surprise again. "No... my name is Grey Loss."

"I'm Iris Windgrove," she said quietly. Time passed with no further words before Death stood again. "You need to go, it's not safe here at night and I dont want to take you as well. Go home." The girl gained a scared look out of nowhere, making him wonder, but not have enough time or will to ask befoer she gave a tiny wave. "Thank you.." she whispered. As she turned to drag herself wearily home, she saw the figure of the man that didnt seem quite so bad anymore bow his head, before he was gone, faded into the darkness of the shadows.

Death walked along the same street two months later, both pleased and a little saddened that the girl from before, Iris, wasnt there. He missed her strangely but refused to let himself get attatched... or to think he was. Humans lived and died and that was that. Making friends with one would just be sure to hurt him when he had to carry them from their lives. But down the street he heard yells, yells of anger. He wondered who would be screaming so late.. Werent people sleeping? Death's internal clock told him it was around one in the morning. His dark footsteps approached and he immidiatally recognized noises.. very familiar noises. A small weak cry, a scream of an angry man, slams. Quickly, he ran right through the thick wall, eyes widening slightly at the scene before him.

An older man was yelling, his face red with rage as he shook a small girl by the arms, jerking her frail body back and forth without control. He hit her, a small whimper escaping her lips. Her blonde hair was rustled even further than it was the day Grey had last seen it, green eyes glowing with fear.. "D.. daddy let go.. You're hurting me, please stop," she whispered, her voice making it seem like she was trying to be calming, reassuring. This must have happened before. Despite that though, her words only caused the man's rage to uproar again. "Your mother isnt going to fucking come, how many times have I told you to get the hell home!"
"Daddy, please..!"
Death simply stood and watched as the girl he met before, Iris, was beaten to the ground by a heavy hand. Reality at its finest.. the unfairness of life right before him. You have to stop this, a voice whispered. I cant, he thought back, bowing his head. Iris then saw him and there was a pause before her small head was suddenly slammed against the ground. It was too hard this time, her skull cracked and her beautiful eyes closed like shades to a window immidiatally, blood as red as his cape rushing out into her light hair, one last cry igniting through the night before it was all pure silence... Grey could only watch. He couldnt kill anyone without it being their time but he wanted so badly to run his scythe through the wicked man who was just beginning to realize what he had done. Within five minutes the alert bell rang in the spirit of reality's head.. he walked as if a timer had rang towards the figure on the floor, just a corpse of a lost girl now as the wound had done its damage and her eyes were sealed shut for eternity. The only human that had ever made some sort of impact on him.. dead within a few months. Was The Man in the Moon punishing him? Warning him not to draw too close to humans? Was it his own misfortune that brought this girl down? He brought her into his arms, looking down with grievingly guilty eyes. She looked at peace.. like all the other spirits... but somehow a little more so. Death's feet left the ground and his head bowed as they vanished together...

reappearing in a foresty clearing. He was confused. Usually depending on the person, he would be at the gates of heaven or hell. This only happened if.. his eyes lightened for the first and possibly last time with surprise and actual joy. If he was here... then the Man in the Moon had chosen her to be a spirit. It was both horrible and amazing at the same time. She wouldnt experience the amazing heavens, but his selfish mind brought him joy thaf he wouldnt lose his.. he felt himself truely mean the word for the first time. Friend. She meant so much to him, just the light that was in her eyes, the lack of fear towards him, her curiosity. So he even housed a small weak smile as he walked the girl's body to a small pool of water, the spirit pool. The moon's light beamed down on it. The pool changed per spirit in location, just needing to be a body of water that got enough moonlight. As Grey's hands slowly released her and he stood back to watch. It was always amazing when a spirit was born, even more so since he felt kindly towards this one in peticular. She shimmered a faint silver, floating unnaturally in the clean water, the blood fading and crack in her head healing as if it were never there. Her blonde hair grew a little lighter, being now like sunshine instead of the sandy look it had before. Her pale skin gleamed, making her look less sick and more along the lines of angelic, changed completely from the dirty, frostbitten color it had become when she was alive. The dirt had literally faded right off of her, her outfit changing itself into something more peaceful, naturelike but suiting her in a way MIM knew how to do with really everyone. Death's own outfit was chosen by the leader of the guardians, and to this day he hadnt changed it... he assumed she would be the same. As a final, her feet seemed to shrink slightly and shift so they were half human, half paws. Her ears shifted as well, growing and moving to the top of her head, pointing more as fur as white as pure snow blossoming on them. A tail came from her back, a fox. A pure white fox.. then her eyes opened. They were bright, bright beyond the brighten before by far, glowing, shining with innocence and life he couldnt believe, leaving the reaper in awe just as the water receded and the small girl was pushed by a gentel wave to his feet again. He was surprised, crouching down as she slowly sat up* "What.. whats going on..?" He remembered his confusion when he was born as a spirit.. Not knowing your name, what you're there for or anything, your past life completely forgotten. He was about to adress her by her real name but stopped at the last minute. The man in the moon always slightly altered the spirits names, Like how Death's name before (he found) was Gale Locket, changed to Grey Loss. He liked Grey better anyways and MIM knew it. But now he understood, her naming was left to him. He thought for a second before smiling as much as he could, his natural sadness fading just slightly as he looked down on her like a baby, a child who knew nothing of the world... a little sister, a form of family he always secretly longed for. "Ilia is your name. Ilia Windgrove." Ilia was a word in a language that had long died and been forgotten, a word that always struck him as special even past the thousands of years since he had heard it. It meant "Girl of Happiness." Now, it meant his new and only friend. Over the months, MIM requested that Death left her side eventually and he did, feeling guilty for putting her in the cruel world on her own. She was his only carer and the only one he truely cared for. The only weakness of Death was Life.

Grey Loss' bright red eyes flickered open. How had fe fallen asleep..? Though rest always felt nice, a break from the despair he faced daily with no end, he never NEEDED sleep and he never slept if he didnt decide to. He groaned quietly, reclosing his weary eyes and blowing his black bangs from his face. He has passed out right against the wall of the throne room in Pitch's lair, where he always went after he was pulled away from Ilia and Jack. But as his sleep-blurred eyes caught their view, they widened slightly in the first sign of actual emotion he had shown in years, decades even, since Ilia's birth as a spirit, since what he had just dreamed. His hands were locked behind his back, the tightness of the black metal holding them in place was wince worthy. He tried to rush to standing and fell back, his feet were cuffed as well along with a black collar he felt resting on his neck, one like Ilia's. He was chained to the wall, held down with not one but three restraints. What was going on...? But then he looked in front of him. Pitch Black stood fully awake with a smile of evil. Pitch could see dreams, Grey remembered, feeling a jolt in his gut. "So the reaper does have a weakness after all," Pitch cooed. This had all been a set up, "Nightmare King.." Grey muttered, putting on a confused face. "Oh dont pull that," Pitch spat, pacin in front of the downed dark spirit's bright red glare. "You should know I never trusted you, I just needed you to fo along so I could put enough nightmare sand into you to finally get you to sleep. You're too powerful for my tastes of a follower, it takes too much energy controlling you." Pitch then slowly smiled, turninf to face the grim's wary look. "Or it did.. but now I know for sure.. your hope, your comfort and only real happiness all relies on that child. You were good at hiding it, Reaper, but with this new information you are as weak and in my control as my own fearlings." He was right.. Grey would put himself to torture if he had to to get the bright innocence of the nature child to safety. His only joy.. His head bowed, eyes closing in a form of defeat, Pitch laughed and Grey flinched as a fast hard fist connected with his cheek. His head shot to the side before slowly raising back up, a pant running from the parted lips of spirit of reality. Pitch was pleased, risinf again. You are mine, Grey Loss, your freedom and your power, the only gifts the man in the moon gave you that couldnt be taken away, are now crushed beneith my feet." He knew it to be true.. "Bring the girl in.. and Jack in around an hour. Lets see how they react to their powerful warrior when they see him beaten and begging for mercy!" A wicked laugh echoed through the lair. Pitch had done another thing, whether he knew it or not. While Death couldnt die or get hurt.. there was an exception. He would never die, but so long as his scythe wasnt near him, he lost his ability to instantly heal, its power restoring him, the flesh it had torn forming as his own. But he couldnt feel it nearby, Pitch had taken it.. the night grew slightly darker as the head of Death fell back to his chest, not yet defeated but definatally without hope.